"None of us want to sound like divas" - Esteban Ocon wants the FIA to realize that porpoising is 'not healthy going into the future'
Esteban Ocon is the latest in a line of drivers who have spoken out against the porpoising effect of the 2022 F1 cars and the physical challenges it causes the drivers. The Frenchman said that driving these cars is just unhealthy going into the future of the sport and called on the FIA to do something about it.
When asked about more and more drivers seeking FIA intervention over bouncing, Ocon said:
“Yeah, that’s a fair comment. None of us want to sound like divas or that we are complaining that the cars are too hard to drive, but we need to realise that it’s not healthy going into the future. It’s not the porpoising necessarily, I think it’s the stiffness of the cars which is a big hit on the long straight. We can’t prepare our bodies for that.”
Gasly is another driver not happy. "I've never felt that much bottoming," said Gasly. "Thanks for the feedback," replies his engineer, who adds that everyone else is also struggling with porpoising - the cars are noticeably bouncing around more than usual this weekend. #F1
After the race in Baku, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner was quite vocal against the complaints made by the drivers regarding the bouncing effect experienced during the race. When questioned by The Race about what would he do if the car was not as good as the competition, he said:
“Tell them to b**ch as much as they could over the radio and make as big an issue out of it as they possibly could. It is uncomfortable but there are remedies to that but it’s detrimental to car performance. [They can] complain from a safety point of view, but each team has a choice: to raise a car. You have a choice where you run your car. And you should never run a car that’s unsafe. But… I think that’s more for the technical guys because there’s certain cars that have issues and some cars that have few issues.”
'It's up to the FIA' to police the porpoising, says Esteban Ocon
#F1: Carlos Sainz on porpoising: “On Friday I suffered a lot, and for some reason I had a car or a bottom that caused more porpoising and made the car skid more than the other. I saw other drivers in trouble on the straight, and we got to the point where we looked at each other
Esteban Ocon was asked to comment on statements made by Christian Horner that some teams were playing up the porpoising issue because their cars were not as competitive. The Alpine driver didn't agree as he pointed out that George Russell was finishing on the podium and was still complaining about the effect these cars had on the drivers.
He said:
“George [Russell] finished on the podium today, so it doesn’t seem too bad. I think it is something that the FIA are going to look at, probably for in the future, and it’s something that we will support. It’s up to the FIA and then the policeman really to call what you can do or not in the future.”
With Esteban Ocon also weighing in on the debate, it does appear that the porpoising issue is going to carry on for a while.